Good News Race

“I’ll be back in a bit!” Matt yelled as he burst out of his house and darted across the street to Justin’s house. He couldn’t wait to tell his friend the good news! Justin’s mom answered the front door.

“Hi, Matt!” She greeted the red-haired neighbor boy.

“Is Justin home? I’ve got something great to tell him!”

“He’s next door at Jessie’s—”

But Matt had already sped away before she could finish. With a smile and a shrug, she watched Matt cut across her yard, hurdle a flower pot, and jump over the bushes to get to Jessie’s house as fast as he could. He leaped up the porch steps and landed with a thud in front of Jessie’s front door. Meoww! A streak of orange fur flew between Matt’s feet. Matt apologized to Jessie’s pet cat as he rang the doorbell. “Sorry, Freckles. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Matt danced around on the front porch, waiting for the door to open.

“Hello, Matt,” greeted Jessie’s mom, holding Jessie’s baby brother, Mikey, on her hip.

“Where are Justin and Jessie? I gotta tell ‘em something!” blurted Matt.

“Oh, you just missed them! They went to Jeremy and Emily’s house to play a game.”

“Thanks!” Matt was gone before she could ask what he wanted to tell the kids.

“Ba, ba.” Baby Mikey waved his chubby hand.

“Yes, bye, bye,” agreed Jessie’s mom as she also waved at Matt, who was sprinting down the sidewalk.

He jumped up on the front porch of Jeremy and Emily’s house and banged loudly on the front door.

Jeremy opened the door. “Hey, Matt! Your face is a bit red. You okay?”

“Yeah, no, I mean . . . I’m good,” Matt panted. “I got something to tell you guys!” he said between big gulps of air.

“C’mon in.”

Matt scurried past Jeremy and into the room where Emily, Jessie, and Justin were sitting around a game board on the floor.

“Guys! I’ve got something to tell you!”

Jessie dropped the dice she had been holding, and they clattered onto the board, knocking her game piece over. “Matt, you scared me!”

“What’s the news?” asked Emily curiously.

“Yeah, what’s up?” added Justin.

“Craig’s become a Christian!!” Matt announced.

Jessie jumped to her feet and ran squealing toward Matt to give him a hug. Emily was right behind her—only she stepped on the game board, completely destroying the game they were playing, but no one cared. Matt’s news was so much more important! Justin and Jeremy crowded around Matt then everyone started talking at once:

“This is the best news, EVER!”

“How’d it happen?”

“When did it happen?”

“I can’t believe it!”

“That’s so cool!”

Finally, everyone calmed down, and Matt explained what happened. Earlier that morning, Matt found his older brother, Craig, reading his Bible—which was a big surprise since he was usually playing video games. Craig had been reading about Jesus’ death and resurrection in the book of John.

“He told me he felt sad and guilty,” Matt continued, “and I told him that’s how I felt, too, when I learned Jesus died for me because of the bad things I’d done. Then Craig asked what he could do about it. So I told him how I prayed and asked God to forgive me and help me follow Jesus. I was really nervous talking to Craig, but I asked him if he wanted to pray, too.” Matt paused and looked at his friends. They suddenly realized they’d been holding their breath as they listened to Matt’s exciting story.

“So, he prayed with you?” guessed Justin excitedly.

Matt nodded. “He prayed right there with me in his bedroom. When he finished telling God he was sorry and wanted to go to heaven, he smiled and said the sadness and guilty feeling was gone. I’ve never seen him look so happy in my whole life!”

“Wow! That’s so cool you got to pray with him, Matt,” said Jeremy, giving him a pat on the back.

“God answered our prayers!” Jessie exclaimed joyfully. “I pray for him before bed almost every night,”

Justin added. “Yeah, everyone in Kids’ Club will be happy to hear this news since they’ve been praying, too,” said Emily.

“Hey, Matt. How did you know to find us here?” Jeremy asked.

“I went to Justin’s and then to Jessie’s before finally coming here. I’ve been running all over the place to find you,” Matt explained.

“Did you tell my mom your news?” Justin wondered.

“Or my mom?” added Jessie.

“Uh, no. I sorta ran off. I was so excited to tell you guys,” admitted Matt.

“Well, they’ve been praying, too. We should go tell them.”

“Yes,” said Jessie. “My mom’s gonna be super happy.”

“Let’s go tell them now,” said Justin.

“Race you to my house!” Jessie shouted.

Everyone laughed as they all smooshed through the doorway then finally spilled outside. Matt and Justin bounded down the steps with Jessie right on their heels. Suddenly, without warning, Matt tripped on a garden hose and tumbled onto the grass.

“Matt!” Jessie ran toward him. “Are you okay?”

Matt turned over. “Yeah!” He jumped up, laughing. “I’m fine. Let’s go!”

“First one there gets to share the news!” announced Justin. And off they raced.

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